Vanessa Chantal Paradis is a French singer, actress and model. She began her entertainment career very young in her life. She started off as a professional singer at the age of 8 by singing for the first time on a famous French TV program. She later released her hit single ‘Joe le taxi’ at the age of 14, which resulted in the release of her first album ‘M&J’, which became a rave in France and also gained some popularity in the UK. With the instant success that she achieved through her singing, doors to her successful modeling as well as acting career also opened. She has been the face of Chanel for many years now––her first advert for the brand’s fragrance Coco paved the way for a number of modeling projects. She is now the spokesmodel for Chanel as well as Miu Miu. She has also starred in numerous French movies like, ‘Une chance sur deux’, ‘Café de Flore’, etc. and won accolades for her acting, including the Genie Award and Cesar Award.

Vanessa Paradis was born on December 22, 1972 in Saint-Maur-des-Fosses, France, to André and Corinne Paradis. Both her parents were interior designers.

Paradis developed love for singing very early on and her singing career started at 8, when her uncle who was a record producer, got her on the famous French TV show L’Ecole Des Fans (The School of Fans).

At the age of 13, Paradis recorded her first single, ‘La Magie des surprises-parties’ in 1983. This got her an opportunity to perform at the Italian festival in the following years.

In 1987, she came out with ‘Joe le taxi’, which became an international hit. It was No. 1 in France for 11 weeks and in the following year, her debut album ‘M&J’ (Marilyn & John) was released.

As a result of her progressing singing career, Paradis left school and concentrated on her career. She released ‘Variations sur le meme t’aime’ in 1990. In the same year, she acted in, ‘Noce Blanche’ and won a César Award.

In 1991, she became the face for Chanel’s fragrance Coco. She famously wore a black feathered costume for the advert, which was shot by Jean-Paul Goude.

She moved to America in 1992 to work on her next album, which was to be released in English, with Lenny Kravitz. The album was titled ‘Vanessa Paradis’; it topped the French charts and also made it on the UK listings.

Paradis spent her following years by performing in her international tour, ‘Natural High Tour’ in France, England and Canada and released her first live album titled ‘Live’. She also starred in the French movie, ‘Elisa (1994)’.

In the late 1990s, Paradis explored her acting career by working in movies like: ‘Un amour de sorciere (1997)’ with Jeanne Moreau, ‘Une chance sur deux (1998)’ with Jean-Paul Belmondo, and ‘La fille sur le Pont (1999).

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After modeling for Chanel for a bit during the early 2000s, Paradis released her new album ‘Divinidylle’ in 2007, which was released in the UK. She won two 'Les Victoires de la Musique' awards for this album.

In 2010, Paradis released an acoustic album, ‘Une nuit à Versailles’, which she recorded at L'Opéra of the Palace of Versailles during her Vanessa Paradis Concert Acoustique Tour. She also became the face of Chanel’s new lipstick, Rouge Coco.

She starred in the film ‘Café de Flore’ in 2011. The movie was directed by the Canadian film director, Jean-Marc Vallee. She won a Genie Award for her role of a single mother with a Down’s syndrome child.

Paradis released ‘Love Songs’, a double LP produced by French singer and producer Benjamin Biolay, in 2013. People who had contributed to the writing of the album are: Biolay, Mickaël Furnon, Johnny Depp, Paradis herself and her daughter Lily-Rose.

Paradis’ career both as a singer and actor has been very successful. She has released six original albums, ‘Love Songs’ being the latest one and has acted in eighteen movies from 1989-2012 and won awards for some of her memorable performances.